Thread by @andyRoidO

As a 3rd Force candidate who (rightly!) wants to win without spending money, you're REALLY saying You want to get enough mostly rural, minimally educated, poor people, to know you so well, they reject money because you will do what everybody since 1960 failed to do. Needs a plan.

An "APCPDP" candidate doesn't have that problem. Her party has workers in all 774 LGAs & 120K Polling Unit Areas. Workers who've spent YEARS building small networks of loyalists who WILL turn out for elections, & vote however the leader says. That's the "Structure" some scoff at.

Where their numbers of loyalists aren't enough, "structure" also doubles as distribution network for election-day bribes. Party has 120K people it can give N500K each, and order to "deliver" 500 votes each.

That's what you're up against

*figures not accurate. You get the point.

And because APCPDP leaders have been winning since 1999, they have connects inside the system, to help them steal the votes they can't buy. INEC. Police. Army.

Structure. Loyalists. Vote-Buying. Rigging.

To beat these 4 beasts at once, you need a plan.

The only countermeasure to a structure is an opposing structure. Anyone who says otherwise is lying to you.

If you don't have at least ONE person preaching your gospel in each of the 120K polling unit areas*, you lie to yourself.

*Or in enough of them to win nationwide.

So if I had 4 years to run for President*, my first strategic goal would be to get representation in all 120K.
37 State Coordinator Groups handpicked by me & core team.
They recruit & staff 774 LGA Coordinator Groups.
They recruit & staff Ward & Unit Groups.
Not enough though...

Pyramid Politics (structures) creates a type of Principal-Agent Problem: How are you sure those LGA, Ward, & Unit Coordinators share your goal, and are working towards it?
That's a big part of the tradecraft that Establishment Naija politicians have, and don't share...

You won't learn that tradecraft in <4 years. You need to outsource part of that to seasoned operatives. Also, you can leverage tech for this part. Have internal tools to improve comms between you and the edges of your structure.

Next, what are those guys meant to be doing?

Messaging. Your structure is there to preach your gospel. You need to be giving them constant "content" to evangelize with, and the tools to do it. For 4 years leading to election, your name needs to be ringing out in villages. Your opinions. Your ACTS. Your plans.

My great-aunt in the village needs to be hearing from your Unit Area Coordinator exactly where you stand on the issues that are important to HER. This is where "politics is local" comes in. Where do you stand on her daughter's pension from School Of Nursing?

Your unit coordinators should also be RECRUITING. Periodically, they should be reporting their meeting numbers to the Ward Coordinators, who do same to LGA, same to State etc.

Do you know why politicians do all those unnecessary meetings, functions, and rallies years before elections, where everyone sews asoebi? It's a way for the higher-ups to confirm the numbers the lower-downs have been reporting.

Do YOU have a mechanism for that?

Again, even if you don't want to go full-on old school, you can use tech. I have some ideas on this, but I won't derail the thread. The bottom line is, you need a system to keep track of just how many people each of your 120K Unit Coordinators has "converted".

After Recruitment comes RADICALIZATION. You want those people to be ready to vote for you even when APCPDP starts sharing Azikiwes.
You want them to stand tall when the thugs come.
That type of commitment isn't earned casually. You must "groom" it. How?

You have until the next election to prove to those guys that:
1. If they risk life and limb for you on election day, you actually have a plan to make the vote count (they're not stupid).
2. If the vote counts and you win, you'll be different from everybody who has come since 1960

EndSARS has given *everyone* the expo: if you "show working", people will believe you. I don't mean sharing money. I mean sharing value. You have international connections? Channel them to providing opportunities to people in different villages. Their mothers will die for you.

Have a service that gets people out of unfair police wahala. Lawyers on retainer. Fundraise to keep it running. Nigerians at home and abroad will contribute, knowing you're getting innocent people out of jail. The families they come home to will stand for you.

A Governor hasn't paid salaries in 4 months? Why isn't your 3rd Force party/structure the one helping the employees battle the case?

I am tweeting via VPN. Why haven't you helped me sue the FG?

Show. Working.

Those things you do, those battles you fight, are the gospel that your coordinators can now preach. They are also what will help them radicalize the converted.

Let me skip ahead. Radicalized supporters are your only hope against vote-buying and rigging, if you want to stay clean.
You want voters who:
-reject cash;
-stand their ground when thugs/police/army raid polling unit;
-march to collation centre and occupy it to defend votes.

You need to TEACH them how to do these things. They need to practice and drill. Again, that's what your 120K Unit Coordinators are for. They lead that. They identify the hardiest, most committed supporters, and give them more roles. Politics is Local, Elections are tactical.

Elections are a year and 8 months away. If you're a serious 3rd Force contender, you have to acknowledge that you have almost no time left, and you're behind, and you need a lot of help. To get that help, you're going to have to show you have a plan, and where you're at on it.

Consider yourself a startup looking for investors.

The investors aren't all bringing money. Most are bringing time and skills as coordinators and campaigners. Treat each meeting with them like a pitch.

If I woke up today to run for President in 2023, here's what I'd be doing:

Concurrent Plans:

1) Ideological and policy positions, and messaging.
2) "Show Working" strategy
3) "Road To 120K".
4) Fundraising

Leo McGarry no do pass this one sha. LMAO.

Elections need a distribution game to rival any FMCG. A 3rd Force candidate who refuses to answer how they'll do that without a ready-made national party is being unfair to prospective voters. Like pitching to seed investors without a go-to-market plan.

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